


Ignis et Aqua

by Fire_Bear



Series: USUK Dimension Transcension Week 2016 [4]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Day4Magic, Duelling, Elemental Magic, First Meetings, Gen, Magic, USUK Dimension Transcension Week 2016, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-06-06 10:42:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6750670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Alfred's second year in Magus University and he's looking forward to using his Ignis magic to duel. He doesn't expect to be pitted against an Aqua student on his first day, though...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ignis et Aqua

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: I translated a few single words into Latin using Google Translate so they may very well be wrong… =/
> 
> I’ll explain more about this universe at the end, by the way.
> 
> P.S. May have been inspired a little by the kind of magic in Fairy Tail and the Element 4. ^^”
> 
> P.P.S. Jake = Australia and Charlie = New Zealand. Obviously.

Alfred was super excited to be starting his second year at the Magus University in Massachusetts – they got to fight duels! How awesome was that?! He wasn’t the only one who was restless, nor the only one who arrived early to settle in. Most of the Ignis House had turned up, including Alfred’s room-mate, Jake. The guy came from Australia and had already managed to burn down their curtains. Alfred had only laughed and they both went shopping for new ones.

For the other Houses, the students dribbled in over the next week or so. Those in the Aerius House breezed by them on their way in, some using their powers to float along the ground. Alfred had to get out of the way of some burly Terra House residents who muscled their way by – at the back of the procession were a couple of smug girls who didn’t seem like people who should be messed with. He had wondered who was actually doing the protecting in that group. The fountains started up again the day the first of the Aqua House arrived and the times of the days were messed with when both the Lux and the Tenebris House residents popped up. Both he and Jake were frustrated when the final House, Navitas, acquired its residents and they shorted out the power during a welcome party.

Eventually, the day came when their classes started and Alfred was up unusually early, waiting by the door and bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Come _on_ , Jake! What’s taking ya so long?!” he called into the bathroom.

“I need to look good for the ladies!” he replied, emerging from the bathroom looking much the same as ever. Alfred gave him an incredulous look before shaking his head and opening their dorm door.

“Whatever! Hurry up!”

They ran out of the Ignis building and rushed across the campus. Other students were making their way to lecture halls and conference rooms, most using their magic to do so. It was a pity that, if either Alfred or Jake wanted to use their powers to travel, they’d have a hell of a repair bill. So all they – and anyone else from the Ignis House – could do was run. That’s why the Ignis students were easily the fastest on the track field.

Arriving at the lecture hall just in time, they rushed up the stairs towards their friends from the Aerius House, Matthew and Charlie. “You were almost late,” said Matthew, pulling his bag from the seat he’d saved for Alfred. “As usual.”

Laughing, Alfred waved his comment off. “So? How was your summer?”

“Good, thank you,” Matthew told him. “I’ve been practising. I managed to knock several cans off a fence without destroying it, too.”

“How many fences did you destroy before that happened?” Alfred asked with another laugh.

Matthew pouted. “A few…” he grudgingly admitted.

“What about you, Char?” Jake asked. “Did you practise, too?”

“Well, I practised forming clouds from water droplets,” the Kiwi explained. “I’m much better at defensive magic, you know.”

Grinning, Alfred watched Jake become exasperated with Charlie, gesturing and trying to explain why offensive magic was needed. His gaze then drifted over all the familiar faces; he felt so happy to be back with them all, every one of them eager to learn. As his eyes passed over a group of Europeans, though, he spotted a new face – blond hair, grumpy expression, trying to tell Francis to bug off by the looks of things. Blinking, Alfred frowned. Was it a first year in the wrong class?

“Who’s that?” he asked Matthew.

“Huh? Oh. That’s Arthur Kirkland. He’s an exchange student from the Ariolatus Et Magia University in Britain.”

“Hm,” said Alfred, wondering if he should go introduce himself before the professor arrived.

Unfortunately, he was too late. Julius Vargas strode into the lecture hall and gave them all a cheerful grin. “I know you’re all wondering where Professor Beilschmidt is but he couldn’t make it to give your theory class today. So I’ll be taking it. Well, in theory.” He chuckled to himself as the students all frowned at him, wondering what the infamous wizard was up to today. When he received no reaction, he pouted for a second before shrugging. “Follow me. We’ll skip over the theory and see what you second years are capable of. To the gym hall!” Pointing into the air, Julius took off, the bemused students gathering their things and giving chase.

Jake caught Alfred’s eye and they grinned with barely concealed excitement.

* * *

Personally, Alfred loved the gym. It was a large, empty space with lines marked out for various sports’ courts. In the corners stood fountains, continuously pumping water into the hall. Massive vents provided good air conditioning and one wall was made entirely out of dried earth. The lighting was good but could be switched off when needed with a simple click of the fingers when standing in the right spot. All in all, the gym was the perfect place for each and every student to practise their powers.

Grinning, Alfred tried to squeeze through the crowd to all the other Ignis students. Before he could get very far, Julius turned to them all from the centre of the hall. “All right. Let’s see what you can do! I’ll pick names out of a hat to go one-on-one in a duel.” With that, he pulled a top hat from thin air using his Lux magic: he was famed for his illusions and for his sort-of rivalry with the Tenebris wizard, Beilschmidt. He paused just as he was about to reach in the hat. “Actually… I believe we have a new student with us today. Mister Kirkland? Would you like to go first?”

Further along the edge, Arthur stepped out of the crowd, confidently striding into the middle of the room. When he turned to survey the rest of them, Alfred could see him a little more clearly. He had piercing green eyes accentuated by large eyebrows. With how bushy they were, Alfred thought he probably looked irritated all the time – or maybe that was just his natural state. His eyes, though… Those eyes looked ethereal and it was obvious he had magic in his blood. He was wearing a t-shirt with an Aqua design on it and dark jeans with a pair of Doc Martens. It made him look more earthy than Alfred would expect, considering his casual declaration of using water magic. Or maybe that was just to confuse people.

“All right, then!” Julius cried and, without further ado, pulled a name from the hat. “Aha! This _will_ be interesting! An Aqua House student against an Ignis House student.” Arthur tensed as did several of the other Ignis students. Alfred, however, tried to keep from bouncing in excitement: that would truly be a duel to watch. “Your opponent, Mister Kirkland, is Alfred Jones!”

Alfred’s eyes widened. Beside him, Jake gave Alfred a sympathetic look. When he glanced around and found everyone staring at him, Alfred hurriedly moved forward, standing a few feet from Arthur. He clenched his fists, feeling tense, and he took a deep breath. Arthur stared at him, just as tense as Alfred was. Julius moved out of the way, making the hat vanish as he did so.

“Er, hi,” said Alfred, giving Arthur a tentative grin. Arthur’s eyebrow raised but, otherwise, he didn’t react.

“Well, boys!” said Julius. “Begin whenever you want! Navitas students, please raise some shields for the other students, if you please.”

Alfred glanced over his shoulder and waited until all the shields had been raised, the blues and greens and pinks merging to form a sort of see-through, rainbow-tinged layer of energy between the duellers and the audience. Then he turned back to Arthur and took a deep breath. “Well, uh, should we-?”

“Don’t forget to introduce yourselves!” Julius called from the side.

“Oh. Right. Uh, I’m Alfred F. Jones from the Ignis House.”

“I am Arthur Kirkland,” the student replied, his English accent crisp and clear and carrying. “I am from the Aqua House.”

They stood there for a few moments, awkwardly watching each other, wary of attacking. Then Alfred decided to just do it and, with a quickly muttered spell, sent a fireball straight at Arthur’s chest. Just before it hit, Arthur took a deep breath, waved his hand in a big loop and a wave of water appeared, dousing the flame. Alfred hummed in approval: it seemed as though Arthur had gotten the defensive magic down pat.

Before Alfred could open his mouth to use his next spell, Arthur spoke, his spell ringing though the air and, suddenly, there were several whooshing noises. From each of the fountains in the corner, spirals of water were twisting through the air towards Alfred. Surprised and alarmed, Alfred threw up his own defensive wall of fire, watching as the water evaporated. Once it had, he lowered his shield and stared at Arthur, wondering what their next moves would be.

“Hm,” Arthur said, smirking. “You’re better than I’d thought you’d be.”

What was with that arrogant attitude? Alfred frowned at him. “Well, you’re just as bad at this as I’d thought you’d be.”

Arthur’s eyes flashed; he raised a hand pointing towards Alfred and said a word. A large ball of water came flying through the air, straight at Alfred and, before he had time to react, the water hit him with its full force. Alfred went flying through the air, landing hard on his back. Gasping for breath, he staggered to his feet and attempted his own fireball again, shooting several in quick succession. Arthur dodged two of them, blocked three but the last hit his shoulder and he stumbled back, his t-shirt singed. Growling, Arthur sent a wave of water back at Alfred who panicked and sent a wall of fire towards it. The two forces clashed and burst apart in an explosion which forced Alfred back a few steps. When the steam and soot cleared, Alfred found Arthur was still upright as well.

“Come on, boys!” shouted Julius. “This is hardly a duel! Enough of the testing – use your powers to _fight_.”

The two of them stared at each other. Then, almost without warning, they launched their attacks, water flying everywhere, the room heating deliciously. When they realised that they could defend against the other’s attacks, they put more force into it, more energy and elemental force. Alfred tried to think of how to get past water attacks when the water could put out his fire.

Before Alfred could figure it out, Arthur spoke a spell which was far longer than the spells he had used before. Water came from the fountains again and, once more, Alfred put up a shield. However, instead of flying towards him, the water came between them, each spout twisting around each other. Slowly but surely, a whirlpool formed in the middle of the hall. Alfred could only stare through his fire, jaw dropped. He had never seen anyone make one in the hall before, let alone one so large.

He realised he was in danger when the water put out the fire directly in front of him. Desperately, he tried to raise his shield again but the air was too wet. Stepping backwards, he summoned his remaining fire into his hand, where he quickly said a spell, making it burn hotter and hotter. If he could get it hot enough, he reasoned, he would be able to evaporate the water – but only if it was hot enough.

His hair was getting wet and it was beginning to get difficult to see through his glasses. Droplets ran down the side of his face and he began to falter. His fire nearly went out but he persevered and, eventually, he released the heat, directing it towards the water, letting it envelope it. Fire burst forth from his hand, blue in colour now as it twisted around the dangerous waterspout. Water still passed through the barrier but, as time moved on and the fire grew hotter still, Alfred could feel that the water was hot when it hit his skin.

It was beginning to boil.

As soon as he realised that, the water faltered, shifting to the side as if it was about to fall over. Alfred celebrated for half a second before the water suddenly became upright again, the spirals tighter now. He gaped at it, realising that Arthur had gotten control of the _boiling_ water, something hardly any Aqua wizards could do. Usually, when water boiled and the water molecules moved apart from each other, it became harder to control. Each molecule had to be coaxed into staying as a liquid. It took someone skilled and focussed to keep the water as water.

Almost losing control of his fire, he instead tried making it hotter, the flames turning white. He began to pant, the intensity of his flames beginning to drain his energy. If they didn’t stop soon, he’d likely drop. Then something happened to the water inside the fire; it moved erratically, searching out a gap in the fire. Alfred tried tightening the grip his flames had on the water just as the water expanded.

There was a loud bang, a force which took Alfred clean off his feet and hot water and flames went everywhere. Alfred banged into the shields and dropped to the floor, gulping huge breaths of the now humid air. He lifted his head and looked across the hall, squinting through the steam to see that Arthur was in much the same position. They stared at each other, both waiting to see who would move first.

“All right, you two!” called Julius. “I think that’s enough. Have a rest. Now, let’s find out who’s duelling next.”

Alfred struggled to his feet and hovered, waiting for Arthur to get close as they returned to the crowd of awed students. “That was amazing!” he told his opponent, still slightly out of breath. “Just… amazing!”

“Yes…” Arthur said, looking at Alfred thoughtfully. “I think you may be more powerful than you realise…”

“Huh?” said Alfred but Arthur was already walking away. Alfred watched him, equal parts intrigued and confused. He had the feeling that his second year was going to be _very_ interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so, in this universe people know about magic - vaguely. Only those with a good aptitude for magic are taught. In America, if they show that they’re good with magic, they get lessons at their local community college, like, twice a week. Then they go to university and are taught more advanced stuff.
> 
> That’s pretty much what it’s like all over the world but… Britain’s an exception. They have special primary and secondary schools which teach magic and only the very best attend the university there. Which is why very little is known about it.
> 
> Now Arthur… he showed he had magic from the moment he was born and has been able to control it since he was a kid. In secondary school, there’s an option to learn a second magic power if you want and, if you have an aptitude, you can continue studying both. Arthur’s now able to use Aqua and Navitas magic.
> 
> Aside from this, his family has handed down knowledge of another magic power. A forbidden magic power… It’s got the name necromancy but it’s really just summoning magical creatures, demons and eldritch abominations. Arthur only summons unicorns and Flying Mint Bunny. Usually. If he was pushed, he could summon something bigger, more powerful and far more dangerous…
> 
> On the flip side, Alfred is actually more powerful than he realises. When he was a kid, he used to make explosions happen, something very few Ignis witches and wizards can do. But it was dangerous for everyone as he had no control over it and his parents weren’t magical. So they took him to their local witch and she locked away his power. She lifted that when he gained control of his powers but, because he doesn’t remember the explosions, he doesn’t know about that.
> 
> In this universe, Ivan would be in the Aqua House (if he’s actually at that university), but he likes freezing it. Arthur could beat him with his boiling water. Kiku would be a Terra House one but would use flowers and plants rather than the actual earth like Gilbert does. Antonio is Ignis and Francis is Aerius. Those three and Arthur are going to end up being called the Element 4 because, apparently, Arthur’s become friends with them without meaning to. (Also cause of Fairy Tail. ^^”)


	2. Ignis et Navitas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've kind of decided that the parts I'm posting of this just now are going to consist of 'discoveries' on Alfred's part about Arthur. 
> 
> Unfortunately, this one is rather boring. But there's an argument. It's a stupid argument but, still.

“To understand your opponents in any duel, it is necessary to know how their powers work,” said Professor Filibert Beilschmidt as he rounded off his last lecture about the basics of all the powers. He had been repeating this as he went through each of them, painstakingly detailing all the intricacies of powers Alfred wasn't interested in having. Even Matthew had nodded off a few times when he deviated from Aerius powers. Thankfully, they were at the end of the theory that was mandatory for everyone in any university.

Well, any university but Ariolatus Et Magia University. Arthur had told Alfred that this sort of lesson was given to Primary School children in Britain and that was why he was currently holding a water puppet show solely for Alfred's benefit under the desk. Alfred was having difficulty not laughing at the slapstick humour Arthur was effortlessly forming.

“As such,” Professor Beilschmidt continued, “you are ideally expected to have learnt all of what I have run through over the past few weeks  _before_ your first duel.”

Rumours had it that Beilschmidt was not overly happy about Vargas taking over his class and deviating from the lesson plan. Beside him, Arthur hid a yawn behind one hand as he flicked the other he was hiding under the table. Instantly, the figures formed into the hazy figures of Beilschmidt and Vargas. They yelled at each other for a few moments, waving their arms – and then they embraced.

Without quite meaning to, Alfred snorted loudly. Their professor looked up at him, eyes narrowed. Meanwhile, Arthur sucked the water back into the bottle he had held between his knees, just in case. Powers weren't meant to be used in theory classes. He made a show of frowning at Alfred in confusion before 'returning his attention' to Beilschmidt. As he did so, he scribbled absently on his notepad and lifted the bottle to his lips in unison.

“Seeing as you seem to be amused at this, Mister Jones,” said Beilschmidt, “I am sure you will be pleased to hear about the assignments you will be receiving today.”

Alfred almost groaned in annoyance but managed to stop himself before he got into any more trouble. Beside him, he could feel Arthur's shoulders shaking as he fought to control his own laughter. As Beilschmidt turned to wave his hand at the board, Alfred allowed himself to smile, glad Arthur was having fun. He had been grumpy with everyone for a few weeks but he'd finally relaxed once the novelty of the newcomer wore off and people stopped pestering him so much. Now he had friends and made up what the campus was calling the Element 4. Alfred was just glad they were friends, too: there weren't many of his friends who could entertain him during boring classes.

“I have paired each of you up and assigned a magic type to you. Each pair will present either the advantages or the disadvantages of the magic type. Or both, if you wish to, though you will have to manage your time effectively. You will only have five to ten minutes to present it to the class. Once you have noted this down, please feel free to leave.”

A sharp elbow bumped into Alfred's arm and he looked over at Arthur who nodded at the board as he obediently scribbled down the details. Glancing up, Alfred lit up at what he saw: he and Arthur were partners and they were going to be working on Terra. He grinned back at Arthur who began to gather his things. With a vague gesture, Arthur slipped past Alfred and began to leave – Alfred hurried to catch up.

Once outside, Arthur openly yawned and stretched, the waistcoat he was wearing causing his shirt to ride up a little. Alfred copied him, relieved to not be hunched over a desk. “That went on forever,” he told Arthur with a heavy sigh.

“Yeah,” Arthur replied, rolling his neck around to work out the kinks. “Come on. Let's get this started so we can get it over with.”

“Aye, aye, captain!” Alfred replied, complete with salute.

* * *

 

The library was packed with older students and Alfred whined at the lack of access to a computer till Arthur gave in and agreed to move on. They both ended up in Alfred's dorm room, their notepads open and ready to note down their ideas. Arthur insisted they at least sort out what they'd be doing and how and who would be doing each task. Then, Alfred had insisted, they would watch a movie before Arthur's afternoon lessons.

“Well, obviously we should do the advantages of Terra magic,” Alfred said, writing that down.

“Why the advantages?” asked Arthur, tapping the end of his pen against his own pad. “The disadvantages would be much more interesting, don't you think?”

“Nah. I mean, c'mon man, there's so many cool things about Terra magic. Like, y'know, growing things.”

“We're talking about battle advantages and disadvantages, Al,” Arthur told him, rolling his eyes. “That's the whole point about Beilschmidt's class.”

“Yeah, but you could make the plants grow around the person and trap them. One-nil to the Terra magician.”

“Those can be burnt away by an Ignis magician.”

“So? Pretty cool advantage.”

“ _Everyone_ knows the advantages of Terra magic. A lot of people don't know _all_ of the disadvantages of Terra magic – we should make them more widely known.”

Alfred sighed. “Well, why don't we compromise and do both.”

“Then we can't go into the details of each advantage and disadvantage, which is what I meant by making the disadvantages known.”

“C'mon, Art. Work with me here.”

“My name's Arthur,” he grumbled, a little tetchily. “What's the use of us doing something with half the effort? That's what's going to happen, you know. There's no way we can get everything we want into the one project. Someone's going to have to cave so we do _one_ of them.”

They both glared at each other. Alfred was the one to break the brief silence. “I don't like being negative.”

“Why don't you try it for once?”

“What's so wrong with the advantages?”

“I'm sure everyone else will talk about them – it's the most obvious thing to do.”

“And what makes you say that?” Alfred demanded.

Rolling his eyes, Arthur folded his arms and leaned back against his seat. “We did this in secondary school and, _believe me_ , advantages were all we heard about. Even _my_ project was on the advantages of Ignis magic.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Alfred, dismissively, waving a hand. He sighed. Although he and Arthur had fun, the Brit often talked at length of his longer period of magical training. It grated on Alfred's nerves sometimes and, in the middle of their argument, he was thoroughly fed up with him. “This is different, though. More advanced.”

“For _you_ , maybe,” Arthur retorted, looking as irritated as Alfred felt. “I'm telling you this is secondary school level for-”

“All right, all right, I get it!” Alfred snapped, shooting to his feet. “You went to a super fancy British school. You know oh so much _better_ than everyone else. You're cleverer and better than me. Your parents could afford to put you in a fancy boarding school and send ya to a brilliant college and whatever. I bet your parents forked out money for you to come _here_ and you don't even _want_ to be here!”

At that, Arthur was quick to stand as well. “You know _nothing_ about my situation!” he shouted – at the exact moment the light sparked and the electricity gave out.

Both of them froze, standing in the dim light filtering in from outside. At first, Alfred thought a bulb had blown. Then he noticed that there was no hum of the mini fridge and there was no light on the charger connected to his laptop. And it didn't take long for him to realise that the laptop itself had turned off – which shouldn't have happened with the power it still had in it.

Once his eyes had adjusted to the poorer lighting, he also realised that Arthur's body seemed to be shimmering, as if a heat haze surrounded him. There had only been a few times Alfred had seen that happened and his eyes widened in surprise. “Dude. Are you...?”

Seemingly startled by Alfred's words, Arthur jolted slightly before taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out. “Shit,” he said. “I took out the whole building.”

“Th- You really are- But... You're an Aqua.”

Arthur nodded. “I'm also a Navitas. You could learn two different magics in secondary school.”

“Really?” asked Alfred, surprised and impressed: he'd never heard of anyone having two specialities before.

“Yeah. Hang on.” Arthur shifted to Alfred's laptop, placed his hand on it and muttered a few words. The shimmering aura surrounding him dissipated as the computer rebooted. Then the light on the charger came on followed shortly by the room's light. Arthur stayed put for a few more minutes until, with a sigh, he relaxed and slumped. “Sorry,” he murmured, sounding exhausted.

“You okay?”

Nodding, Arthur sat down again; Alfred followed suit. “My Aqua powers are a lot more natural to me,” Arthur explained. “My Navitas powers... Well, that's more complicated and takes me a bit more effort to control. Emotional outbursts can make me lose that control - like when we were younger and we didn't have our training. Of course, there are other ways for me to lost my temper...”

“'Other ways'...? There are other ways for your powers to go out of control?!” Alfred didn't want to think about what the consequences of that could be.

“Yeah...” Arthur went silent and, for a while, Alfred said nothing. Just as he was about to speak up and apologise for talking about Arthur's family when he didn't know them, to maybe fill the silence, Arthur turned to him with a shy, sheepish smile. “Shall we split the work into advantages _and_ disadvantages?”

Alfred grinned back, willing to let the issue drop. “Sure!”


	3. Ignis et Necromantiae

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did someone order some angst to go with that magic?

“Holy shit!” Alfred exclaimed, staring up at the huge _thing_ which towered over the campus. Beside him, he heard Arthur gasp, thankfully still with him. The others were panting, trying to catch their breath. Ahead of them, Alfred could see Professors Beilschmidt and Vargas firing bolts of light and pure black at the gigantic creature. None of them seemed to be affecting it; the monster kept squelching across the plaza.

“What  _is_ that?” breathed Francis.

“I have no-” Alfred began.

“It's called an Crutagria,” Arthur said, eyes locked on the thing. “It's one of several of the Abominations which appear when someone unpractised uses summoning magic.”

“Mon Dieu,” said Francis. “A necromancer.”

Alfred could think of nothing to say except, “Shit.”

“What do we do?” asked Matthew.

“We're gonna have to defeat it,” Gilbert piped up, stepping past Alfred. “It's a good thing we've got those duelling classes, huh?" He grinned at them all before nodding at the monster. "Let's go!”

“Wait-!” Arthur began but everyone swarmed past him. Alfred gave him a worried look, noting how pained the Brit appeared. Then he sighed and, shaking his head, followed. Alfred brought up the rear, glancing over his shoulder to see if any of the enemy magicians were following them. He was determined not to let any of them take Arthur: he wasn't prepared to lose him before the school year was up.

As they neared their professors, the ground began to shake, such was the sheer force of the Lux and Tenebris explosions: it was equal parts terrifying and awe inspiring. They slowed when they finally reached the fully trained magicians who spotted them. Beilschmidt frowned and let up his attack to turn to his students.

“What do you think you are doing? Get away! Evacuate the campus!”

“Sir!” Alfred yelled over the sound of another Lux explosion, this one closer to what was probably the creature's head. “We can help! We want-”

“Look out!” Vargas shouted, diving out of the way as globules separated from the thing and began to rain down. One of them hit the ground where Vargas had been and melted a crater in the paving. Another one flew straight towards them. Everyone froze, unsure what to do.

Everyone, that is, except for Arthur who threw a hand upwards. “Scutum est omnium nostrum!” he yelled. A faint green, shimmering haze spread from a point just above his hand to encase everyone, protecting them from the lethal globes of goo. Everyone flinched or winced as the stuff hit Arthur's shield. It sizzled but the barrier kept it off them. As it slid down the dome Arthur had erected, he turned to the others. “Now what?” he demanded, looking equal parts serious and determined.

“This thing won't be beaten by just one or two types of magic,” said Vargas, approaching them. Arthur made the shield shrink as he came closer. Alfred could see how relieved he was when it got smaller: he couldn't keep their protection up indefinitely.

“We will have to combine all our magic,” said Beilschmidt. “Jones is the most powerful Ignis magician, Matthew-”

“Sir,” interrupted Arthur. “As much as I like this plan, I cannot lower my shield while we're so close.”

Beilschmidt turned to look at him. Then he swore and looked at Vargas who grimaced. “Why is that a problem?” Alfred asked, aware he should probably know the answer.

“This shield is essentially a barrier of energy,” explained Arthur, wincing as another globule fell onto it. For a moment, it seemed to flicker but, with a gasp, Arthur gestured and the shield held, even getting a little brighter. “It keeps everything bad out – and keeps all of you and your powers inside. If you tried to fire anything at the Crutagria,  _we_ would be the ones which would end up hit.”

The students looked at each other and a few promptly swore under their breath. But there was not much they could do and so he stepped forward. “Sirs, if you consent to lowering the shield for a moment, I'll come with you outside of the shield to help ya.”

“No,” said Beilschmidt, shortly. “We are not going to endanger the lives of our students. You will all need to stay within the shield Kirkland erected.”

“But, sir!” cried Matthew, stepping forward. “We want to help. Surely with all of our powers put together-”

“That won't happen.” Everyone turned to look at Arthur who stared resolutely back at them, eyes narrowed as if daring anyone to argue. For a moment, the professors sighed in relief. Then Arthur continued, “I'm not letting anyone out of here, for your own safety.”

“You will do as you're told, Kirkland,” Vargas said, unnaturally serious. “We have to deal with this thing.”

“None of your powers will have an effect. There's no point in you going out there.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?” asked Alfred, stepping towards his friend.

Taking a deep breath, Arthur turned to stare up at the creature which was still making its way towards them – if they didn't move soon, they'd be flattened. Unless Arthur's shield held, of course. Alfred had no doubt it would. Arthur turned back to the group and Alfred gave him his full attention, his determined expression making Alfred's heart hammer as he began to feel a sense of unease.

“I know a way to stop it. So I'll go out and you should all stay here.” With that, he turned and stepped towards the barrier. Everyone seemed to be frozen as he muttered a few words, obviously too surprised to do anything to stop him. Then he stepped through, muttered another spell and stalked off, shoulders tense and fists clenched.

“Arthur!” Alfred yelled, jumping towards the place Arthur had walked through. Instead of passing through, however, he slammed into an almost invisible wall, the green glow increasing for a moment at his point of impact. With glasses askew, Alfred stepped back and watched, wide-eyed as Arthur slowed and stopped a few feet away. “Arthur! What the hell are you doing?”

Looking over his shoulder, Arthur gave Alfred a sad smile. It was such a heartbreaking sight that Alfred forgot to breathe for a moment. “Don't worry,” said Arthur. “I'll get rid of it for you.”

“Don't-!” Alfred began, fearful of what Arthur was about to do.

However, he broke off to stare at the powers Arthur was gathering to him. Squeezing water from the air and gathering it from the fountains in the plaza, Arthur was soon surrounded by a swirling mass of water. The green glow of his Navitas magic joined the water until it was woven amongst it. At that, Alfred thought he understood what Arthur meant – he was about to combine his powers in such a way that it would be too much for the monster, perhaps cause an explosion of such magnitude it would surely be defeated.

He was going to sacrifice himself.

“No!” Alfred shouted, slamming his hand against the shield. “Arthur! Get back here, you dumbass!” He could feel tears at the corners of his eyes but he tried his best to ignore them as he began to push at the shield. Maybe if he pushed hard enough, Arthur would be forced to drop it to concentrate on his spell.

With a whacking noise, someone's hands joined his. Glancing around, he found that Francis and Antonio were putting all their weight into pushing at the barrier. Behind them, Gilbert was discussing the logistics of digging his way out with Matthew and Charlie, hoping they could do it quickly enough to stop Arthur. Meanwhile, the professors had joined in the pushing effort. Biting his lip, Alfred tried his best not to cry with joy at how many people wanted to help Arthur.

But none of them were truly aware of how powerful Arthur was. Without warning, the shield pulsed and Alfred felt himself hit with a blast of energy. He fell onto his bum and, wincing, he found that everyone else were also sprawled on the ground. With a growl, he pushed himself to his feet, started forward – and froze when he noticed what was happening outside of the dome.

span> The swirling water and energy was being siphoned into three cyclones and each of them pulled away from Arthur and compressed to spin in large circles a few centimetres from the ground. Arthur stood between them, his arms spread wide. Shouting, Arthur said the end of the spell he was so sure would help: “ Dewch allan, fy ffrindiau! ”

Alfred frowned. That didn't sound like a proper spell. It sounded more like a foreign language. Beside him, Beilschmidt gasped. “No,” the professor said. “He...”

It was quickly obvious why Beilschmidt had trailed off: something was happening in the circles of power. Shapes and shadows formed and dissolved. Colours came and went. Then, all of a sudden, three things solidified. One was a unicorn, its mane silvery and shiny as it tossed its head from side to side. The horn looked lethal, almost as long as a narwhal's. In another circle floated what appeared to be a green rabbit with wings. The rabbit did a loop the loop and giggled. Lastly, there was a little man with a white beard and a red, pointy hand. Spotting the monster above them, it grunted, seeming amused.

“He's a necromancer, too,” said Jake, clearly shocked.

Alfred couldn't take his eyes off Arthur. His open coat billowed in the wind and the swirling circles beside him made him look all the more mysterious and impressive. Unsure how to feel about this revelation, Alfred merely watched as Arthur stretched his hand out towards the towering monster.

“Get rid of it!” he declared, sounding angry now.

The water and energy began to fade away, the water returning whence it came. The little man immediately disappeared while the unicorn merely pawed at the ground. Meanwhile, the little rabbit gave a cry of joy and began circling Arthur's head.

“Arthur!” it cried. “It's so good to see you! Uni wants you to pet him before he does anything.”

For a second, nothing happened. Then Arthur's shoulders drooped and, with a sigh, he moved over to gently stroke the unicorn's flank. The unicorn then turned his head and nuzzled into Arthur's shoulder narrowly avoiding impaling him. Alfred tensed for a moment – and then the unicorn looked directly at the Ignis magician. They stared at each other for some time.

Above everyone, there came a roar. Looking up, they saw the little man standing atop the creature, dancing on what would be its head. As they watched, the thing began to shrink, roaring and flailing all the while. A clopping of hooves made Alfred wrench his gaze from the thing in time to see the unicorn easing into a gallop, horn lowered. The little green rabbit followed it, yelling out what seemed to be a battle cry.

At that point, Arthur turned to the other magicians who stared back. He gave them a sad smile. “My family has handed down summoning magic for generations now. We're supposed to be the only ones who can do this.”

“You're not supposed to be able to do it at all,” snapped Beilschmidt, eyes narrowed.

“What do you plan to do with me?” Arthur asked instead of attempting to defend himself.

“You'll have to go on trial for the use of it,” Vargas explained, looking rather consternated. “Your family will as well.”

“Please,” said Arthur, stepping towards the shield. Then he froze, looking beyond everyone. As one, they turned and Alfred cursed under his breath: the kidnappers had returned.

He turned to Arthur. “Let us out of here – there's too many of them for you to fight.”

Arthur's hesitation told Alfred everything. Why should he trust those who wanted to persecute him for what he had done to save them? Then Arthur glanced behind him at the shrinking creature and Alfred almost saw the choice laid out in front of Arthur. His heart clenched and he slapped the shield, trying to regain Arthur's attention. When he had it, he glared at the powerful magician.

“I'm sorry, Jones.”

Turning his back on them, Arthur began to run towards the creature, towards the ones he had summoned. He didn't lift the shield, however, and Alfred could only push at it in a vain hope that he'd pass through. Instead of having an effect, Alfred slipped and fell to his knees. He bowed his head and leant it against the magical wall, ignoring the strange tingling feeling.

A sudden scream had him upright in an instant. The creature was surrounded by a glow that was a mixture of silver, red and green. Then it exploded – or perhaps it imploded. Bits of it went flying and then they disappeared in mid-air as the encased magicians flinched as one. In the distance, Arthur was met by the creatures he had summoned. They surrounded him, seemed to converse with him and, with a bright flash of light, they vanished. The shield everyone was trapped behind flashed green and then disintegrated.

There was a sudden silence. Slowly, background noises returned. Birds chirping, the distant noises of cars, the wind, the almost kidnappers reaching the group of magicians...

“Woah,” said one of them. “If he got rid of that, Paddy's gonna have trouble getting hold of 'im.”

That made Alfred's temper flare. If these guys hadn't tried to grab Arthur, none of this would have happened. He was one hundred per cent sure that one of the people after Arthur had summoned the monster, though he wasn't sure of the reasoning for that, only that they had done it and Arthur was gone. He spun towards them and, without thinking of the consequences, flung his Ignis powers at them. One of them managed to raise a shield – just in time for, instead of sending a wave of fire, Alfred created an explosion which sent everyone flying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've developed the story a little more and...
> 
> The reason the first spell Arthur does is in Latin is because the Church sanctioned the use of those powers. 'Necromancy' is actually powers which people had before the church. Which is why the spell Arthur uses to summon the creatures is in Welsh. But you can get spells in, say, old Norse and whatever Romanians used back when the Church was formed. It's only called necromancy because certain Romanian spells of a certain family can 'raise the dead'. It's become a blanket term for all of that. 
> 
> That's why the Church had witch hunts - to get rid of those powers.
> 
> Then the Church separated themselves from the magic or something something political whatever. Doesn't really matter beyond that fact that necromancy powers are essentially outlawed.
> 
> Funnily enough, there are no _known_ magicians in countries like China and Japan... ;)


End file.
